The use of shiftable hitches in conjunction with farm equipment is not new in the art. The object of all such hitches is to provide means for towing a device for working a field which device is of a width that will normally not permit the same to be drawn or towed on roads but which is efficient for operating on the field and the hitch being shiftable to shift the towing point for the device to the end thereof such that the device may now be towed endwise on a road. In such devices, wheeling systems are provided which will rotate and accommodate these various towing positions, but this, again, is common to many such farm units. A primary object of all of these units is, as stated, to provide a two position or shiftable hitch device which will permit towing a grain or press drill or the like from both a frontal and side position and, ideally, a minimal amount of mechanical connections are provided to obtain the desired positions. The units that are available in the present art require pins and other positive locking elements which, due to their configuration and operation, require personal operation, requiring the operator to climb off the towing vehicle and do the mechanical shifting or the mechanical pin or latch pulling to permit the unit to be so shifted.
With applicant 3 s device, a hitch mechanism is provided which eliminates complicated operation in that it will be unnecessary to get off the towing vehicle to control the operation of the unit. Obviously, if safety pins are desired in applicant's design, this will require the human element for placement of the same, but the basic concept of applicant's invention is to provide such a shiftable unit in the use of towing a device in, what may be termed, a forward or a sideward direction without complicated attachment or placement devices.
It is a further object of applicant's invention to provide a swing transport for farm machinery including grain drills and the like which includes a triangular formable linkage bar system attachable to the unit to be towed which linkage system permits the formation of a triangular towing arrangement in a first position and permits the triangular configuration to be shifted into a parallel link relationship for effective end towing of the unit.
It is a further object of applicant's invention to provide a swing transport for farm equipment which includes means for locking various link portions of a triangular link mechanism which locking action is provided to positively hold the members in locked position by simply shifting the element to be locked into its proper position and forcing the same past a latch mechanism which latch will effectively hold the same in the desired position until it is released therefrom.